Companies that Hatched Surprisingly
Oneida Silverware
Oneida Silverware is a company that had probably the strangest origin. The company was born out of a religion/cult in Oneida, New York. In 1848, John Humphrey Noyes founded a religion called Perfectionism. Among the members of this religion, every member married another member of opposite sex in the group and all the members of the group, he and his 300 followers, lived in a 93,000square foot mansion as one big happy family. Though the community was disbanded in 1897, they couldn’t mingle with the society outside, and they thought of making a joint-stock company among themselves, which later became Oneida Silverware. Now it is the best known brand among the silverware makers.
XeroxXerox was originally Haloid Company, a company that made photographic paper and photographic equipment, founded in 1906. It was only in 1959 that they started making copiers and their first product was Xerox 914. Later the company started being referred to as Xerox.
